To Save The Future You Must First Save The Past
by SherlokiPotter
Summary: The Avengers are sent into the past to protect a young Loki from harms way. If they fail then the future will cease to exist and Thanos will have what he finally wanted. Set after Avengers. Young Loki, Thor and others
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! So I decided to write the first chapter of this and see how it goes! Hope you like it and enjoy! :D**

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Loki looked down at the Tesseract in the container Thor was holding out for him to take. He grabbed the handle and watched as Thor nodded to his friends then turned the handle he was holding. Blue light erupted out from the Tesseract and wrapped itself round Loki and Thor. All of a sudden sparks started to fly off from the centre of the Tesseract; Loki looked up wide eyed at Thor who looked bewildered as well. Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse Loki started to feel burning on his right hand. He looked down and tried to take his hand off the handle but couldn't, he looked at Thor who by the looks of things was having the same problem.

'Something's wrong!' shouted Steve trying to get a better look at the two but was blinded by the blue light suddenly erupting everywhere.

'No!' said Tony sarcastically and turned around to look at the equipment which started to beep. Bruce and Selvig who were stood either side of Tony did the same.

'The energy readings are off the chart!' said Selvig turning the monitor for the other two to see.

'We need to get them out of there' said Bruce turning around to look at Loki and Thor.

'What's wrong?' asked Natasha as she, Clint and Steve walked up to them.

'There seems to be something wrong with the Tesseract!' said Bruce looking at them.

'What's that?' asked Clint pointing to one of the monitors.

'Sciency stuff now move out of the way before-' Tony grabbed Clint's arm as he was about to touch it 'Before you break something. Now bird boy let grownups work!'

Loki shut his eyes. The pain on his hand was unbearable. He heard those 'Avengers' running around trying to figure out what was wrong. _Hurry up!_ Loki thought.

'Brother?' Loki opened his eyes and looked at Thor. 'Do not worry! My friends are trying to solve the problem!' Loki rolled his eyes and he felt pain jolt up his arm. Thor sighed. His hand too was burning but right now his main priority was Loki. Yes he might have tried to subjugate Earth but he was still his brother, his little brother. The one he swore to protect which he had failed at. He winced as the pain started to increase and could imagine Loki was going through the same. 'I promise you I will get you out of here!' He watched as Loki started to wince as the burning increased. He brought Mjonir up and before he could hit it the light faded and the burning stopped. He looked at Loki and saw relieve on his face. They both let go of the handle and it dropped to the floor. Thor looked down at his hand and found it bleeding and blistering, he noticed Loki's hand which looked the same. He looked up to Loki's face again and found his face extremely pale. 'Loki?' he saw Loki stumble and he dropped Mjonir and caught him. 'Dr Banner!' Bruce turned around and ran over to them.

'Lay him down on the ground' Thor did as he was told and watched as Bruce took Loki's wrist and felt his pulse, he turned to Tony 'We need to get him to a hospital'

'On it!' Tony pulled out his phone.

'Is this really necessary?' whispered Clint to Natasha. Natasha shrugged her eyes not leaving Loki. 'Why should we be helping him? He deserves to suffer'

'I'd suggest keeping that to yourself bird boy' said Tony behind him making him jump.

'Why?'

'Well Loki might be some crazed super villain but he's a crazed super villain with Thor as his brother! If we don't help him well I don't want to be on the other end of that hammer of his if you get my drift' he nodded then walked off.

'He's right Clint' said Natasha eventually.

'Oh thanks Tasha. That bastard deserves everything he gets'

'I know that Clint but that bastard is Thor's brother. And like Stark said. He's going to be pissed if we don't help him. And imagine what he'll be like if he dies? I agree with Tony, I don't want to be on the other end of his hammer'

'Then what do we do?'

'We do what we can to help then the faster Thor can get him away from here!'

'Fine! I don't like it though!' he said sighing.

'I know you don't but you'll be fine, you've been through worse' she finally broke her eye contact from Loki and looked at Clint.

Loki attempted to start coughing but that stupid muzzle was stopping him from doing that and breathing properly. He hated it. They were apparently meant to do the good thing! He was choking and they were just stood there.

'Brother, just stay calm! Help is on the way' Thor said bending down next to him. _Stay calm?! I am dying and you want me to stay calm? Ever thought of taking this damn muzzle off to help? No because you are an idiot Thor! As is everyone else here!_

'Here' said Steve handing Bruce a medical kit. Bruce nodded and opened it up. He took out a device and wrapped it around Loki's arm.

'His blood pressure is too low' he said looking at the readings.

'What does that mean?' asked Thor looking at Bruce.

'It means he either has an eating disorder, hormonal abnormalities, been exposed to a high dose of toxins or haemorrhaging. My best bet is the last one'

'And what does that mean?' asked Thor clueless.

'It means he's bleeding out somewhere. You need to help me take off his clothes' he said putting on some gloves.

'Excuse me?'

'I need you to help me take off his clothes. His armour. I need to find out where he's bleeding out and stop it'

'Listen to him Thor, he knows what he's doing' said Natasha patting him on his shoulder. Thor nodded and helped Bruce take off the top layer of Loki's clothes.

'How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning?' asked Tony walking over.

'A while' grumbled Thor ripping through Loki's tunic. His chest was covered in bruises and blood was gushing out everywhere. Thor thought he was going to be sick. Bruce located the wound and pressed down hard causing Loki to scream in silence.

'Puncture wound…Sorry' said Bruce looking to Thor who looked back in confusion 'I did this. The other guy did this to him'

'No you didn't' said Natasha bending down next to him. 'See these wounds' she pointed to the hole in the lower part of his body 'these are fresh. Whoever did this, did it recently'

'But Loki has been under lock and key since we caught him. Nobody has even touched him' said Steve.

'What she's saying is' said Clint walking over to them 'that the wounds are fresh. She's right in it wasn't you Banner. If you did this then he would have been dead long ago!'

'What are trying to imply?' asked Thor looking at them both.

'I think they are trying to say that someone walked up to Loki whilst he was stood here and stabbed him?' asked Steve.

'Yes' said Natasha

'It does seem the only explanation of all the facts!' said Clint.

'Wrong! It's one possible explanation of some of the facts!' said Tony 'But better luck next time bird boy!'

'Give us your theory then!' snapped back Clint.

'Don't you think we would have noticed someone walk up to Loki and stab him?'

'He has a point' said Steve.

'Tony where is that ambulance?' asked Bruce pressing down on the wound again.

'On its way Brucie boy!'

'Brucie boy? Wha-? Never mind.. Right Thor I need you to press down on the wound. Ok?'

'You think that's a wise thing to do?' asked Tony.

'I'll do it' said Steve kneeling down next to them. When Bruce moved his hands out of the way Steve put his down. Bruce looked in the box and found a bottle with clear liquid in and a syringe.

'Loki I'm going to give you something to help with the pain' he brought up Loki's sleeve and injected him with the painkiller.

'Thor?' asked Natasha walking over to him. She saw the shocked look on his face and brought him up to his feet.

'This is my fault'

'Thor listen! This is not your fault!'

'I'm meant to protect him and.. and'

'Selvig!' shouted Natasha. Selvig who was studying the Tesseract on the monitors turned and walked over to Thor 'I think he needs to sit down for a moment' he nodded and grabbed onto Thor's arm and pulled him away from Loki.

'Tony I swear to god if that ambulance is not here in the next minute-' said Bruce looking up at him.

'Woah woah cool it big guy! Don't go jolly green giant on us!'

'Isn't that sweetcorn?' asked Bruce.

'You know wouldn't it be better if you took the muzzle off?' asked Clint. They all looked at him. 'What? You want to help him right? Well I personally think that having that thing on isn't doing him any favours! But if you don't want my opinion then fine!' he snapped.

'He does have a point' said Steve

'Whose side are you on exactly?' asked Tony.

'He's right. Take it off' said Bruce getting some swabs and started to clean up his chest. Tony bent down and unlocked the mask and placed it down on the floor next to him. Loki took a deep breath like he had never tasted air before.

'Fi-na-ally' he managed to say. He could finally taste fresh air and he could breathe properly well nearly.

'Someone should call Fury about this' said Steve.

'Oh of course! I forgot! Oh hello there Director Fury! Yeah our vacation hasn't started yet! Mainly because our prisoner who we were meant to protect is having a cardiac arrest!' shouted Tony.

'Stark we get the point' sighed Natasha.

'Tony!' shouted Bruce

'Yeah?'

'Ambulance?'

'Look all I know is that it's on its way!'

'No it's not'

'Who said that?' asked Tony looking round.

'I did' said a man suddenly appearing in front of them. Natasha and Clint reached for their weapons immediately and had them trained on the mystery man. 'Oh there is no need for that! I'm not going to hurt you! I've come to help you!'

'Who are you?' asked Natasha.

'My name is irrelevant. What really important here is Loki. Well not this Loki, well technically this Loki but not yet!'

'You speak in more riddles than I do! Explain!' said Tony.

'If you want to live then you must all come with me!'

'And why would we do that?' asked Clint

'Because if you don't you'll die'

'Are you threatening us?'

'No. I'm just merely stating that if you don't come with me now then you'll all not only die but neither exist!'

'What?'

'Exactly! I'm not trying to harm anyone! I'm trying to save you all! Well getting you lot to save us all actually!'

'Why do you need us?' asked Steve.

'Well you are the Avengers!'

'What does this have to do with my brother?' asked Thor emerging into the conversation.

'How long have you been stood there?' asked Tony.

'Approximately 5 minutes and 34 seconds in counting' said the man.

'How do you even know that?' asked Tony.

'Time!'

Time?'

'Yes! Time is erasing itself! This universe is falling apart!'

'But how is that possible?' asked Bruce.

'I bet it has Loki's name written all over it' said Clint.

'Actually it wasn't Loki's fault at all! He may have participated in some of the reasons why this future is erasing itself but that's because of the beings who caused that to happen!'

'So what do we do?' asked Thor.

'In order to save the future, you must first save the past!'

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**So there you go! First chapter up! Oh and I should say that I am currently working on a fanfic with one of my friends and that will be a Thor/Avengers/Batman crossover! The main characters will be Loki and Crane! Lets just say I don't think Loki will be underestimating the good doctor any time soon! :D So this is just something I've been wanting to write down! Hope you liked it and please tell me what ya think by reviewing! Until the next time! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

'In order to save the future, you must first save the past!'

'You are kidding me right? Jeez your even crazier then Loki here!' said Tony putting his hands in his pockets.

'Stark!' snapped Steve. He hated it when Tony was rude, especially if the person he was being rude to just happened to be some guy who claimed if they didn't go with him they would all die.

'What? Oh I'm sorry mummy for being mean to the crazy man!'

'You don't just t-'

'Enough!' shouted Bruce making them all flinch. They knew what would happen when Bruce's stress levels increased and they weren't at that minute wanting the 'other guy' to come out 'You two need a time out! Now stop bickering like an old married couple and just for once get along!' Steve looked down to his hands, which were still over Loki's wound; Tony on the other hand started fiddling with his phone in his pocket.

'Thank-you Dr Banner!' said the mystery man.

'It would be more settling if you told us your name instead of us referring to you as the crazy man' said Bruce taking off the rubber gloves.

'Or the crazy, mystery man that appeared telling us we are going to die' mumbled Tony

'For once can't you ever keep your mouth shut?' snapped Steve.

'Your one to talk!' snapped back Tony.

'Look dude just tell us your name before I kill them both!' said Clint.

'You wouldn't dare Barton!' shouted Tony.

'You lot pack it in before I kill everyone of you!' hissed Natasha making them all shut up.

'My name is Paradox. I was trapped in the void where all of time and space was shown to me. I know what happens of every second of every minute of every hour of every day! And…' he took out his lab coat pocket an old fashioned pocket watch 'we have already wasted 6 minutes and 34 seconds already!'

'You know it's still quite creepy how you know that!' said Tony

'Your name sounds familiar. Tell me man of time, have we met before?' asked Thor stepping forward.

'Yes, many times though I believe that was a different universe. Hmmm I should really visit this universe more!'

'A different universe? You mean a parallel universe?' asked Bruce standing up.

'Indeed I do Dr Banner!'

'But that's impossible! The scientific facts tell us that it's impossible!' said Selvig joining the conversation.

'So you believe in aliens on another planet but not parallel universes? Wow that makes a lot of sense!' said Clint.

'Yes, but we have proof to say there is life on other planets thanks to point break over there! But we don't have any proof that parallel universes exist!' snapped Tony.

'That is true Antony but think of this. How do you even know of parallel universes in the first place? Who came up with the theory that there might be parallel universes out there?'

'I don't know! Hey wait a minute did you just call me Antony?'

'Shut up for a moment Tony! I know it's hard for you but zip it! Are you saying that someone from a parallel universe came here and suggested the theory of parallel universes?' asked Bruce.

'Indeed I am! I think it was Carter… No wait I'm mistaken I think it was I! Oops I always let something slip!' he smiled 'Well enough questions! We've wasted enough time! The universe is falling apart and you lot are more bothered about the theory of parallel universes! Oh I do love the future! They don't ask questions!' he flipped open the pocket watch again then looked around to the people standing around him 'I do apologise Dr Selvig but you are irrelevant to my plans and for that I have to leave you behind' he clicked the button on the top of the watch and white light erupted from it blinding the others.

When they all opened their eyes, Paradox smiled as he saw the look on their faces.

'Where the hell are we?' asked Tony looking around the garden they had suddenly appeared in.

'We are in Asgard!' said Thor happily. The smile soon faded off his face as he realised Loki was missing 'Loki…' he looked around the garden he knew so well from when he was a child. Steve snapped out of his trance and realised Loki was missing as well and that he'd been knelt there with his hands in mid air. He dropped his hands down to his side and stood up.

'Where is my brother!?' Thor demanded marching up to Paradox.

'Your brother doesn't exist' he replied calmly. Thor grabbed onto Paradox's lab coat.

'Do not speak in riddles man of time! My brother does exist!'

'He will do if you fix what is about to happen!'

'I do not understand'

'You said the universe was falling apart. What does that mean?' asked Steve.

'Good question Captain Rogers! Well, to answer Thor's question. You must protect the young version of Loki! For I know Thanos is going to target Loki for failing and he doesn't care which version of Loki it is'

'So if we don't protect Loki then this Thanos character will come and kill him? And cause the universe to fall apart?' asked Steve.

'Hold on! I'm not doing anything like that! The dude can die for all I care' said Clint.

'Hold your tongue!' snapped Thor letting go of Paradox and turning to Clint.

'What? He deserves it!'

'Does he? Did any of you actually ask Loki what happened to him after he fell from the Bifrost? Why he fell off the Bifrost? What he was doing or where he had gone for a year? What his reasons were for wanting the Tesseract or subjugating Earth?' asked Paradox looking around them.

'Well no' said Clint ' But that doesn't mea-'

'Then how do you know he deserves to die? Tell me Agent Barton. How many people have you killed?'

'He doesn't have to answer that question!' snapped Natasha walking over to Clint.

'And why is that Agent Romanoff? Is it because you each have caused more deaths than Loki? Does that mean you too deserve to die?'

'We didn't try to subjugate Earth though!' shouted Clint 'We were doing our job!'

'And so was Loki'

'He was just another soldier' said Steve as it finally hit him.

'What?' asked Clint and Natasha in unison.

'Loki wasn't in charge at all! He was just following orders!'

'Following orders or not, he still did it!' shouted Clint.

'Yes, he could have refused to follow the orders but…' said Paradox.

'You can't disobey an order without consequences' said Natasha quietly.

'Indeed. Now you realise what kind of consequences they were. If subjugating Earth and retrieving the Tesseract were better options than you can imagine what kind of consequences he would have faced if he refused or should I say failed'

'But Loki did fail' said Steve.

'That must mean that my brother is in danger!' shouted Thor 'We must save him!' he turned to the others 'Please my friends! Please help me save my brother!' Steve nodded his head towards Thor,

'I'm in' he said.

'Me too' said Bruce.

'What do I get if I say yes?' asked Tony putting his sunglasses to his nose and tilting his head forward.

'Tony!' sighed Bruce.

'Ok ok! I was joking!' he put his hands up in innocent 'Loki might be a bastard who destroys your beautiful tower that you spent years-'

'Stark!' snapped Steve.

'-But he doesn't deserve something like that. I'm in oh God of Thundarrr' Thor turned to the two assassins who were in a deep conversation, being careful to keep their voices low. Natasha finally looked up,

'We're in' she said nodding.

'Thank-you my friends! I appreciate t-' Thor was cut off from a noise coming from one of the bushes in the far corner.

'Let me go!' a voice screamed. It sounded like a child and Thor knew exactly whom it was.

'No! I heard voices coming from over here and so we shall investigate!' another voice said. It to sounded like a child though the voice was a little deeper than the other.

'But I do not want to! Now put me down NOW!'

'No! I am the eldest, which makes me in charge! And I say that we investigate! So stop whining brother and investigate with me…' the young boy who just emerged from the bushes stopped right in his tracks as he saw the several strangers stood before him. The Avengers looked at the boy who had just stumbled out of the bushes. He had golden hair and staring right at them were a pair of bright blue eyes. On his shoulder they noticed was another boy who they could tell was the younger of the two. He had dark, raven hair and dark green eyes, which were also staring right at them.

'Hello there young princes!' said Paradox taking a little bow 'What a pleasure it is to meet you'

'Who are you? What are you doing in the private gardens?' asked the golden haired boy.

'We have come to seek an audience with the king and seem to have gotten a little lost. Would you mind taking us to him?' The young boy seemed confused for a moment before answering,

'Of course. Father is in the throne room, he is in another meeting!' the boy sighed.

'He is in a meeting with the council discussing ways in which Asgard's defences can be increased' the boy on the golden haired boy's shoulder said.

'How do you know that?'

'Unlike some people, I actually listen to what father says!'

'I listen to what father says! I have to for when _I_ become king!'

'You might not become king! Father might think you are too stupid to rule!' the young boy lost his temper and dropped the dark haired boy on the floor 'Ow!' he said as he collided with the hard floor.

'Do not call me stupid next time!' he shouted.

'Stop this!' said Thor walking up to them 'brother's should not fight! They should fight along side each other not fight at each other!' the golden haired boy took a good look at the stranger in front of him then he noticed Mjolnir in his hand.

'How did you get that! That is in the weapons vault!'

'I was given it'

'By whom? We need to hunt the thief down! They shall be punished for their crimes!'

'My father gave me it when he thought I was ready for it'

'But father says he will give it to me when I am ready for it! …Wait! You are me!' the young Thor literally screeched.

'Indeed I am' Thor said smiling.

'Perfect' mumbled the other young boy as he sat up, he winced a bit as pain was sent up his shoulder.

'Indeed! There are two of me! Is that not great!' the young Thor said smiling.

'Of course' he said sarcastically.

'So if that's Thor… then who is that?' asked Tony taking his sunglasses off and gesturing to the boy sat on the floor.

'This is my younger brother Loki!' said the young Thor. The Avengers all stared at the younger version of Loki.

'Are you being serious or are you taking the piss here?'

'Stark!' hissed Steve 'There are children about!' Tony waved him off then walked towards Loki, he bent down in front of him. He noticed that he flinched slightly as he came close to him and that his breathing had slightly increased.

'That looks like it hurts' he said pointing to his arm he landed on. Loki nodded. 'My good friend over there is a doctor. He could take a look at it for you, if you wanted?' Loki nodded again and Tony waved his hand and Bruce came over and bent down next to him.

'Where does it hurt?' Bruce asked. Loki pointed at the top of his arm. 'Ok. Right I need to take your top off, I need to see if you've broken anything' Loki nodded and Bruce took off the half of his tunic that was over his injured shoulder 'Right you've dislocated your shoulder. I'm going to have to put it back' Bruce put his hands on his shoulder 'I'm sorry but this is going to hurt' he popped the shoulder back into place and Loki gave out a scream. He then sighed in relief.

'Thank-you' he whispered.

'No problem. I'd advice not straining your arm at the moment' Bruce stood up and he and Tony helped Loki up. The young Thor looked up to the sky.

'It is around noon, I think he will be finished now' he said and grabbed Loki's other arm and dragged him down the path across the other end of the garden. Paradox smiled and set off after them, the others following. Bruce and Tony though stayed behind the group a little.

'You saw what I saw didn't you?' whispered Tony.

'Yes, of course I did. It's not noticeable from a distance but up close it is' replied Bruce also keeping his voice from ear shot.

'Then you know we might be too late'

'I just hope we aren't' they both looked up to the young Loki who was still being dragged off by the young Thor. They both noticing that one of his eyes was already turning a Tesseract blue…


	3. Chapter 3

'Father!' screamed the young Thor in excitement as he barged into the throne room, still dragging the young version of Loki along with him.

'Thor, my son, what excites you so?' asked Odin as he stepped down from his throne and walked toward his two sons. Thor turned around and pointed to the group of people entering the room.

'We have come for an audience with the King' said Paradox placing his hand across his heart.

'You may speak' Odin said gesturing his hand, allowing them to talk.

'Father look! It is I!' the young Thor said letting go of Loki and running up to the older version of himself. He grabbed his arm and pulled him towards his/their father.

'Father' said Thor, tilting his head towards a bow.

'My son, is that really you?' asked Odin putting his hand on Thor's shoulder.

'Yes' he smiled.

'Thor! How you have changed!' Odin brought Thor into an embrace. He looked up when he heard someone whistle.

'Yeah ermm we are on a tight schedule here! Can you like leave all the lovey dovey stuff for later?' asked Tony stepping forward.

'Stark!' snapped Steve 'you can't address someone like that! Especially a King!'

'Oh relax! It's not like he's going to have my head chopped off or anything like that!' he said waving Steve away.

'I may not have you executed but I can have you thrown in the dungeons!' warned Odin.

'And I thought Reindeer Games was overdramatic!'

'Stark! You can't say that!' hissed Steve.

'Why not? It's not like he's turned psycho yet!'

'Man of iron, my brother is but a child! He deems no threat to us!' said Thor turning to them, Tony face palmed himself whilst shaking his head.

'What?' asked Loki horrified.

'I think that is enough of that' said Paradox stepping forward 'Allfather, I wish to speak with you in private'

'Very well' he turned around and headed towards a door in the corner, Paradox following behind him. As the door shut behind them, there was an awful silence between the group.

'What did you mean?' asked Loki 'Before. What did you mean?' The group stayed silent.

'My brother asked you a question!' snapped the young Thor.

'You said I deemed no threat to you. Why do you think that I would?'

'Well, long story cut short' said Clint pushing past everyone 'you grow up to be a psychopathic bastard! Aimed at ruling the Earth!'

'Barton!' screamed most of the group.

'Bit cold Birdboy!' said Tony.

'You called him a psycho!' barked back Clint.

'Yes but I didn't actually identify who I was calling a psycho! It was dumb dumb over here that gave it all away!' he pointed at Thor.

'Well.. I… I-' stuttered Thor.

'So don't go pointing fingers at me! It's not always my fault ya know!'

'That's a first' muttered Clint.

'So…so I grow up evil? And…and Thor grows up to be this big mighty being as he was always destined to be?' asked Loki, his voice going a little high pitched here and there.

'Brother that is not true!' exclaimed Thor going over to him.

'Then why do your friends say otherwise?'

'Brother, my friends have had a long journey! They…they do not know what they are saying!' he attempted to bring him into a hug but Loki pushed him away. 'Brother please!'

'I am not your brother!' hissed Loki. They all froze where they were and stared at him.

'Shit...' said Tony breaking the silence.

'Loki?' asked Thor 'you are my brother!'

'I am…I…I…I…I don't know' he grabbed his head in pain as he felt something trying to claw it's way inside. He felt himself being pulled into the darkness and his unconscious body fell towards the floor. Thor who was stood in front of Loki lunged forward and caught him before he hit his head.

'Brother!' exclaimed the young Thor running up to him. 'What have you done?' he demanded turning to the others.

'We haven't done anything!' said Clint. Natasha turned to Bruce and Tony giving them her daring look.

'You know something' the two of them looked at each other, both going a little white in the face.

'No we don't' laughed Bruce.

'After you fixed him up you both stayed behind. You were at the back of the group indicating you wanted to talk about something you didn't want us to hear. It was obviously about Loki so what is it?' she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at them further, the rest of the group then turned to them.

'Do you want to tell them?' sighed Bruce as he gave in to Natasha's stare.

'Well let me just start with…you lot are bunch of idiots! You two!' Tony pointed to the two assassins 'I thought you were meant to be these super, ass kicking assassins when you couldn't even notice the tiniest detail! And you!' he spun round to Thor 'you wouldn't even notice if your brother was replaced by a bloody robot! Never mind noticing that he was already being affected by the Tesseract! Or was it just me and Bruce that noticed that?'

'What is the Tesseract?' asked the young Thor looking puzzled.

'You don't even know what the Tesseract is now! Your not going to understand what it is at the age of what? 10?' laughed Tony.

'I am 130 actually!' he said puffing out his chest.

'Yeah, ermm that's not something to be proud of'

'Wait I thought you were like thousands of years old!'

'No' replied Thor.

'Then how come there are myths of you and everyone else that go back-'

'Barton!' snapped Tony 'Shut up and use your brain! Oh wait you don't have one!'

'Stark!' shouted Steve 'Agent Barton. What Stark is _trying_ to say is that we have just time travelled. If it is possible for us to do that then it's possible for someone to go back even further and tell those stories' said Steve.

'You really must not have a brain because even Stevie boy got it!' sighed Tony smiling.

'I swear to God Stark, I will put an arrow in your head in a minute!' hissed Clint.

'Well a) You don't have your bow with you and b) Pepper would be so pissed if she found out you killed me! She'd like go all Natasha on you! I think it's because they are both women and redheads!'

'Go all Natasha on you?' said Natasha.

'Take it as a compliment!'

'Hmmm'

'I demand to know what is wrong with my brother!' screamed the young Thor making them all jump; the sound of thunder could be heard in the distance.

'Thor!' boomed Odin walking back into the room, closely followed by Paradox.

'Yes father?'

'Go to your chambers' he received a 'but' look from his eldest son 'I wish to speak with our guests privately'

'But what about Loki?' he asked taking a step forward. Odin sighed.

'Your brother is not well'

'And these people? They are going to make him better?' he asked. Odin looked around the group and then to the older version of Thor who gave him a slight nod.

'Yes. Which is why you need to go to your chambers!'

'But it is boring!' he whined.

'Then see if your friends are around. I believe I saw Sif leaving her lesson'

'Yes! We can go spar!' he turned and ran off through the door.

'Is he always so… energetic?' asked Bruce.

'You should see him on days like that' said a soft, beautiful voice from behind the throne.

'Frigga my dear!' said Odin as a woman with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes emerged from where she was. She was wearing a peach dress, which fell down to the ground and as she walked it glowed elegantly in the light.

'Odin' she said smiling.

'That's your mom?' asked Tony.

'Indeed' said Thor proudly.

'She's hot!' this comment got a smack over the head by Steve. 'Ow! What was that for?'

'That was inappropriate!'

'What? All I was saying is that his mom is pretty good looking!'

'It is true. My mother is very beautiful. All the women who have laid eyes on her are jealous of her beauty' said Thor.

'Watch out, watch out! There's a Natasha about!' laughed Tony but he immediately silenced when he received a death glare from her.

'My wife, how long have you been there?' asked Odin.

'Long enough. I want to help our son' she put her finger on Odin's lips 'I do not care how dangerous it is! Loki is my son and I will do anything to protect him' she walked over to his unconscious body in Thor's arms.

'Mother' Thor said lowering his head toward a bow.

'Hello Thor. How does your brother fare?'

'I am afraid I do not know' he sighed. Frigga looked up and walked over to Bruce.

'You are a doctor? The Midgardian meaning for healer. Please, heal my son' she begged him.

'Of course' he walked over to Thor 'remember what we did back on Earth?' Thor nodded and laid Loki down on the floor. Bruce took his arm and felt his pulse. 'His pulse is racing' he said. He then put his hand on his forehead but quickly retreated. 'Ow shh-' he waved his hand for a minute, and then started to take deep breaths.

'Calm it Bruce' said Tony walking over to him. Bruce nodded and calmed down, he then looked at his hand which was starting to blister.

'Was he so hot he just burnt you?' asked Tony 'and I meant that as a medical reference not a… You get what I mean'

'Yes. The moment my hand touched his head it felt like it was on fire!'

'Just like what the Tesseract did to Thor and Loki when they were trying to get back to Neverland' said Tony bending down next to Loki.

'What is this Neverland you speak of?' asked Thor.

'It doesn't matter mate' said Clint giving him a slap on the back.

'You don't think...' said Tony looking at Bruce.

'No! That's impossible!' he replied

'Is it?'

'No one could hold that much power!'

'Unlimited power!'

'Exactly! And the fact that it's gone through his entire timeline! It's impossible!'

'When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth' said Paradox stepping forward.

'You got that from a TV show!' said Tony standing up.

'I believe they got it from me! I'm quite good friends with the writers actually'

'Gentlemen!' coughed Natasha 'the subject of television, I'd say isn't relevant at this moment of time! Maybe later when the universe is not falling apart!'

'Quite right Agent Romanoff! Antony, Doctor. Like to share with the rest of us what you think has happened?' asked Paradox.

'You just called me Antony! Again!' exclaimed Tony. 'No one calls me Antony!'

'It's your name isn't it?'

'Well yeah but that-'

'Stark! It's not the end of the world if he calls you by your full name. Now grow up and deal with it' growled Steve, he was getting so sick of Tony's whining.

'Ok, Captain Spandex!' Steve clenched his hand up into a fist.

'Stark! I'm warning you!'

'Your warning me?' Tony laughed 'what are you going to do?'

'I mean it!'

'He means it! That makes it so much more serious!' Tony laughed again. Steve lost control of his anger and hooked him in the face. Tony fell backwards and collided with the floor. He brought his hand up to his face and he felt blood running down from his lip. 'Oh it's so on!' he jumped up onto his feet then brought a punch to Steve's cheek. Steve stumbled back but found his stance and was about to punch Tony again when Bruce got in the middle of them.

'Banner, move out of my way!'

'I can't do that Steve. Now Tony might be an ass but your meant to be the responsible one! And you..' he turned to Tony 'grow up!'

'He started it!' whined Tony. Bruce sighed in frustration,

'I don't care who started it! I'm finishing it! So you two grow up and behave like the adults you are!' shouted Bruce, the anger showing in his voice. He took a step back and shut his eyes breathing in deeply.

'Well done Einstein!' muttered Clint.

'It wasn't my fault!' exclaimed Tony.

'Oh because it's never your fault!' replied Steve.

'I need some air!' sighed Bruce as he bent over to catch his breath.

'Are you ok?' asked Frigga as she started to walk over to Bruce.

'Mother! It is not wise to do that!' said Thor stepping in front of her.

'But your friend looks ill' protested Frigga.

'My friend is not ill, mother'

'Then why does he have the shade of green in his cheeks?' The group swivelled round to Bruce, who breathing even deeper now.

'Everyone out!' screamed Bruce. Natasha took her chance and grabbed onto Clint and dragged him towards the door that they came through. Steve took this as his warning and started to head out but stopped as he saw Tony walking up to Bruce. He sighed then took hold of Tony's arm and dragged him out of the room. Thor picked up Loki then turned to Frigga.

'We must leave' he ordered. Frigga nodded then swiftly left the room closely followed by Thor and Odin. As the golden doors shut, a scream erupted from the room.

* * *

**There you go! :) Sorry it took so long to update, I've been in the wars! a.k.a I fell over on the way to school pretending to be an ****aeroplane and I damaged my foot... but I won't go into detail there! :D Yeah so I'm sorry if it's rubbish and what not but in my own defence I did rush it and I have been preoccupied with the release of the Avengers and other stuff. Until the next time my friends! (Can I call you friends? What the hell! Why not!) Bye :D - Oh and please don't have ago at me for Thor's age! I don't bloody know how old he is! I just made it up!**


	4. Chapter 4

'I demand to know what is going on!' demanded Odin stamping his foot on the floor, as another scream erupted from the throne room. He looked over to the battered and bruised Tony and Steve 'you have shown disrespect for fighting in the presence of a King! Also for inappropriate language towards the Queen!'

'It was-' said Tony.

'Hail! I thought that leaving you two to deal with your conflict would be the better option, but you leave me no choice but to interfere! Your fighting has threatened the safety of everyone on Asgard!'

'Father-'

'I know these are your friends Thor but they must be punished accordingly!' Frigga walked over to Odin and placed a gentle hand on his arm,

'Odin, my husband. They are but children, they are reckless, irresponsible. And we have more important matters at hand!' she gestured to Loki in Thor's arms.

'You are right. We must attend to Loki' he walked over to Thor and took Loki from him, he then turned to Tony and Steve who had each taken a step back 'This does not mean your punishment will pass'

'What about Bruce?' asked Natasha; she flinched as a sound of a roar seeped into the corridor they were standing in.

'The Doctor. Paradox tells me he turns into a beast'

'More like a Hulk' suggested Tony 'And before you start shouting at me for speaking out of context and what not, let me just add that Bruce has started to take control of 'the other guy'! We just need to keep him in that room until he calms down!'

'The man of iron is right father!' said Thor.

'Ironman' sighed Tony rubbing his face.

'I will put an unbreakable barrier around the room' said Odin as he adjusted Loki in his arms.

'Make sure it's on everything in that room because he will smash anything he can get his hands on!' said Tony.

'Might I just add. Ermm what the hell are we supposed to do now? We got to Loki too late! Do we like _poof_ out of existence or something?' asked Clint crossing his arms across his chest.

'He actually makes a good point there!' said Tony 'what now? I'm talking to you parallel guy!'

'Where is Paradox?' asked Steve looking round.

'I'm here!' he said as he appeared next to Natasha, though that might not have been the wisest decision he had made as he found himself being pinned to the wall a few seconds after he appeared.

'Ninja attack!' exclaimed Tony.

'Shut it Stark!' she turned to Paradox 'now I want answers. You knew this was going to happen. You knew we were too late and what now? Are you going to send us on some wild goose chase to try and put things right! Well let me tell you _Paradox_ that I am not spending my Saturday running around trying to fix someone else's shit! You can do it yourself!' Paradox started laughing. 'I don't understand what's so funny!'

'You think you have a choice in the matter?'

'Judging by the way you just said that I'd say no, we don't have a choice!'

'My friends, you said you would help me' said Thor, hope dying in his voice.

'Yes we did but we didn't agree to be his pet monkey!' said Clint.

'ENOUGH!' shouted Odin making them all jump. 'I am taking my son to the infirmary. If you want to protect him then come, if not then leave' he then sped off down the corridor, still carrying Loki in his arms.

'Well he's a grumpy sod ain't he!' scoffed Tony.

'It is true that Odin has a short temper but everything he does he does for a reason' smiled Frigga, she gave Thor's arm a squeeze then set off in the same direction as Odin.

'Are we going then?' asked Steve breaking the new silence that had overcome the group.

'Might as well' said Tony stretching his arm 'unless you want to stay here and wait until Bruce unleashes _all_ his anger'

'Lady Natasha-' asked Thor as he stepped towards her and Paradox but he started to back away when he received a death glare from her.

'What did I tell you about calling me Lady Natasha?'

'Tash! Calm down! Let the poor sod get back on his feet for God's sake!' said Clint pulling on her arm.

'I am not poor!' exclaimed Thor.

'That's not what he meant' sighed Steve.

'Are we going or not?' whined Tony 'I'm bored!' Natasha sighed,

'Fine' she let go of Paradox and he smiled.

'Thank-you Agent Romanoff'

'This doesn't mean I won't be keeping an eye on you!' she let Clint drag her away from Paradox before she did something that she wouldn't regret later.

'Thor, want to lead us to the infirmary?' asked Steve.

'Of course' he took off in front of the group down the corridor.

'So Paradox' said Tony trying to break another awkward silence in the group.

'Yes?'

'What are we supposed to do now? Loki has gone all Tesseract on us!'

'Well, what do you suppose you do?'

'Well if I knew I wouldn't be asking you now would I?'

'Stark! Behave!' growled Steve.

'Yes mommy!' mimicked Tony. Steve didn't bother replying and just sighed and rolled his eyes.

'To answer your question Antony then you will do what you think is right'

'And what is that?'

'You'll just have to wait and see'

'So looking forward to it!' he said sarcastically.

'Thor' asked Steve catching up to him 'what was Loki like? At this age?'

'My brother? Well he was very bright, he still is. He always got me out of situations even at a young age. He used his brain to work out strategies instead of going in blindly like warriors usually did…like I usually did'

'So he saved your ass quite a bit then?' chimed in Tony.

'Yes. I realise now that without him I would have not survived so many quests I adventured on. It makes me see that I did take advantage of my brother's skills and that I was not the best brother that I could have been' admitted Thor. Steve put a hand on his shoulder for a reassurance.

'Its ok' he said.

'I wish to make amends with my brother but I fear that if we do not succeed then I will not be given that chance'

'We will succeed!' said Steve.

'How do you know?' asked Thor looking over to him.

'Thor, you will do anything to protect Loki. Why give up now and waste all that hard work?'

'I did not protect him well enough! I had one job! One job! And I messed it up! If I had done what I was supposed to do in the first place then we would not be in this mess!'

'Thor, you are blaming yourself for what Loki did. It's not your fault that Loki turned!'

'I took part in it though! Loki was jealous of me! He envied me for my power and respect! All he wanted to be was my equal but I treated him far from one. I think that what finally pushed him to act was when I was to become king! Then he found out about his parentage-'

'What about his parentage?' asked Clint walking next to Thor.

'I presumed you all knew that my brother was adopted'

'Loki's adopted?'

'And I thought Rogers was bad!' sighed Tony.

'Well excuse me for being mind controlled at the time!' snapped Clint.

'I thought you read the case files?' asked Steve.

'I did. It wasn't in there'

'Why would my brother being adopted be in a _case file_?'

'Just to make sure we don't forget' said Natasha quickly. Thor stopped then frowned at Natasha.

'I am not stupid. Why would S.H.I.E.L.D want to know about my brother's parentage?'

'S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't know anything about Loki's parentage except that he's adopted'

'Oh come off it! S.H.I.E.L.D _always_ lies!' said Tony.

'What else do you know about my brother?' demanded Thor.

'They don't know anything! Thor I promise you! S.H.I.E.L.D only know as much as you have told them'

'I don't believe you' said Steve.

'Why are you all having a go at me? It's Fury you should be speaking with here not me!' snapped Natasha throwing her arms in the air 'All I know is what I've been told by you' she pointed to Thor 'and what S.H.I.E.L.D knows which is the same thing!'

'Of course it is!' mocked Tony.

'Shut it Stark! If you want to know anything else then I suggest you ask Fury when we deal with this mess! Now are you taking us to the infirmary or what?' she snapped, the anger showing in her eyes as she glared at them all. Thor nodded and set off down the corridor. He knew what it was like to get on the receiving end of a woman's wrath from all the years he spent with Sif.

'I knew you would come' said Frigga softly as she hugged Thor as he and others came into the infirmary.

'Loki is my brother. I swore to protect him and I shall forever do so' he smiled at her then walked over to the bed Loki was laid in. 'Where is father?' he asked Frigga as she walked to other side of the bed.

'He went to go see Heimdall about something. He said he'd only be a moment' she took hold of Loki's hand and squeezed it in her own.

'Heimdall?' a puzzled Tony said stepping forward 'isn't he that gatekeeper dude?'

'He is not a _dude _whatever one is. Heimdall is the gatekeeper for the Bifrost, he sees everything and he knows everything'

'He isn't Santa is he?' gasped Tony.

'Not the time Stark!' barked Steve crossing his arms.

'How is Loki?' asked Thor ignoring the bickering between Steve and Tony.

'They say he is getting worse' Frigga wiped away a tear that escaped her eye and gripped onto Loki harder.

'How?'

'They believe, as well as your father, that his magic is draining him. It gets more powerful yet Loki gets weaker'

'Wait, Loki's magic is draining him?' asked Natasha.

'Indeed' Natasha gently moved past Thor and opened one of Loki's eyelids.

'It isn't his magic that's draining him. It's the Tesseract!'

'You are both wrong! Well sort of! The Tesseract is overwhelming Loki's magic causing his body to shut down' said Tony. He put up his hands 'what? I'm only saying! And anyway Bruce would have said the exact same thing!'

'How did you even figure that out?' asked Clint.

'I _think_ and _observe_! Unlike you!'

'Hey!'

'It's what horses eat yes I know!'

'You two pack it in now!' shouted Steve 'I have had it up to here with both of you!'

'NO!' screeched Loki causing everyone to jump.

'Loki, sweetheart' said Frigga sweetly squeezing his hand 'it is all right. You are going to be fine'

'_What if I refuse? What if I do not want to for fill your plans_?'

'Loki, please. Calm down'

'I don't think he can hear you' said Natasha.

'YOU WILL NOT USE THAT INFERNAL THING ON ME! I WILL NOT BE YOUR PUPPET WHO WILL OBEY YOU AT WILL!'

'Oh look at the time!' exclaimed Paradox, finally zoning into reality. 'We are late!'

'Late? Late for what exactly?' asked Steve. Paradox smiled which gave Steve hardly any reassurance.

'My apologies my Queen but we have to go'

'Of course' she nodded then turned to Thor 'do whatever you can to protect your brother. I know you will do us proud' Thor nodded to her and Paradox pulled out his pocket watch.

'Wait. Where are we going? What about Bruce?' asked Tony stepping toward Paradox, who just smiled at him then pressed the button.

* * *

'Why we are back where we started!' said Thor looking round the garden they had appeared in only a few hours previous.

'Are we?' asked Paradox putting his watch back in his lab coat pocket.

'We are in another time, aren't we?' sighed Steve.

'Indeed we are Captain!'

'Where's Bruce?' asked Tony.

'He is where we left him'

'You mean Bruce is back there on his own?' exclaimed Tony who received a nod from Paradox.

'You're picking us off one at a time aren't you?' said Clint crossing his arms 'leaving one of us at a certain point in time to protect Loki'

'Are you being brainwashed?' asked Tony.

'I'm not as stupid as you make me out to be Stark'

'You two silence now! I hear footsteps' whispered Natasha.

'I don't hear anything' said Tony sighing.

'That's because you're not listening' whispered Clint. Natasha looked up at Clint then nodded, then in a quick motion grabbed onto the air beside her and pushed it against a tree.

'Ow!' said a voice 'you do not have to be so hard' a green light flashed and a young boy appeared. He had raven black hair and emerald green eyes and he looked around 14.

'Don't sneak up on me then' replied Natasha.

'Apologies. Not many people come out into the gardens and I presumed it was Thor and his friends trying to scare me'

'Loki?' asked Natasha.

'How do you know my name?'

'Don't you recognise me? Well, any of us?'

'No. Should I?'

'Right, I'm confused' she let go of Loki then turned to Paradox 'how come he can't remember us?'

'He has not met you yet'

'Yes, he has' said Steve.

'This Loki hasn't' said Paradox.

'I get it' said Clint.

'Do you? Are you sure?' mocked Tony.

'You have sent us back through Loki's timeline. We are still on Loki's timeline, what happened, what we saw never happened. That was never supposed to happen so it caused another timeline-'

'A paradox' said Tony as it hit him 'Barton you're a genius!'

'Did that just happen?' asked Steve.

'You sent us back to when it started, then what, you are going to continue dropping one of us off at each paradox?' said Clint.

'I do not understand' said Thor.

'Imagine a line, and on that line are lines shooting off it. Like for an example on a branch' said Tony waving his hands about 'he's sending us to all the paradoxes. The branches that shoot off the main branch'

'Why?'

'Because they shouldn't exist. Thanos has changed the past through the Tesseract'

'Then why don't we just let him kill him if it's in a paradox?' asked Natasha.

'Because they are all linked to the main branch through the Tesseract. If he dies in the paradox back where we were then all the other paradoxes won't exist causing the universe to fall apart. That's why we need to protect him, we need to stop Thanos from killing him' said Tony.

'I'm going to die?' a shocked Loki asked.

'One day we are all going to die, get over it' said Clint.

'Do not speak to my brother in such a tone!' snapped Thor.

'_Brother? _Someone please tell me what is going on!' Thor walked over to him and brought him into a hug. 'Get off me!' shouted Loki pushing Thor away.

'Loki. It is me, Thor'

'You are not Thor. Thor is a bumbling idiot and he would never hug me in such a manner!'

'I am telling you the truth, brother'

'Fine then if you are telling the truth then you can answer this question' said Loki smirking and crossing his arms.

'Of course' Thor said nodding, although he was all too familiar with that smile.

'You once dressed as a woman to one of your parties, where one of your friends fell for you. Who was it and what happened?' Thor went bright red in the cheeks and a laugh escaped Tony's mouth.

'You didn't did you? Oh my god..' laughed Tony.

'No answer?' asked Loki smiling 'Guards!' In a matter of seconds around a dozen guards surrounded the garden.

'Are you hurt Prince Loki?' asked a blonde, tall guard who walked up to him.

'No, though thank-you for asking Percival'

'What is your purpose here?' he asked the others.

'We come to seek an audience with the King' said Paradox 'we seem to have got a little lost. May you take us to him?' The guard hesitated for a moment then nodded.

'Will you be joining us Prince Loki?'

'I believe my father may want a word with me about what happened'

'Of course' he bowed his head and he set off down the path they had come from.

'We don't have to meet him again do we?' moaned Tony.

'Please don't insult him this time!' sighed Steve.

'Err that was your fault as well!'

'I've got some advice for you, why don't you not speak at all!' said Natasha.

'I agree' said Clint.

'Lets just get it over with' said Steve grabbing hold of Tony's arm and setting off after the guards.

'This should be interesting' said Natasha

'You said it' said Clint and he and she followed Steve and the reluctant Tony.

'Are you coming Thor?' asked Loki.

'Indeed' he replied.

'Wait you just called him Thor' said Tony turning to Loki.

'Yes. I knew it was him from the beginning'

'How?'

'Well, to state the obvious, he is holding Mjolnir. My brother keeps bragging on about how father is going to give him it for his birthday. So being that my father and Thor are the only people to wield Mjolnir it was not that hard to figure out who he was'

'Not bad' admitted Tony.

'I did say he was clever' said Thor.

'A compliment! That's a first!' said Loki sarcastically.

'Loki!' came a shout from the palace entrance.

'Oh no' sighed Loki as a boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes came over. A girl with jet-black hair that was scraped back into a ponytail was at his side.

'Brother, what have you done now?'

'I have not done anything! Why would you suspect I had?'

'I have not seen so many guards escorting you around' the blonde joked.

'Hey blondie, he's taking us to go see old Father Christmas' said Tony.

'How dare you speak to me in such a manner!'

'Thor! Your younger self is being annoying!' whined Tony.

'Younger self?' asked the girl.

'Yes. Hello Lady Sif' said Thor giving a bow.

'You are me?' asked the younger Thor.

'Indeed'

'Would you like us to take you to the Allfather?' asked Sif.

'It is quite all right. Loki said he would'

'Loki says many things, you of all people should know that'

'Loki is doing no harm' said Thor.

'What is wrong with you? You know what he did!'

'Yes I do but Loki is still my brother'

'He is a monster!'

'I am not!' shouted Loki.

'You are!'

'Enough!' demanded Thor 'Sif you are my friend but you cannot insult my brother in such a way without consequences!'

'It is Loki who should be punished!' said the younger Thor 'after what he did to Sif, that is unforgivable!'

'Wait a minute! Hold up here! You're his brother yet you are protecting her?' said Clint.

'She your girlfriend or sommat?' suggested Tony.

'Sif is but a close friend!' said the younger Thor.

'Loki cut off my hair!' screeched Sif.

'Did he give it a trim?' joked Tony.

'My hair used to be golden! Now it is as black as the night!'

'Oh I've heard of this story!' said Tony.

'What?' asked Clint.

'Did no one do the reading? Jeez right then. Loki as a prank cut Sif's golden hair off. Knowing that he would be punished for it he ventured out to the land of the dwarves to bargain with them to forge some artificial hair of pure gold. He didn't pay them anything so they decided to craft it out nothing, making the hair black. Seriously though was it just me and Bruce that actually read up on this stuff?'

'I thought Thor made him go?' said Natasha.

'Well there are loads of adaptions of the story. So which one is true then big guy?' asked Tony.

'Well-'

'I woke up one morning to find my hair gone! I went running to Thor who knew it was Loki because we found him in his room with sheers and a thread of golden hair. Thor forced him to repair the damage he had done so he went to go see the dwarves. He came back with black hair!' hissed Sif.

'Black hair isn't that bad' said Tony running a hand through his own hair 'and beside why don't you just dye it? Its what everybody's doing'

'I still think they should have kept his lips shut longer!' sighed Sif.

'Wait.. _lips shut longer_? That story isn't true is it?' a shocked Tony said.

'Of course it is true!' said the younger Thor.

'What story?' asked Steve.

'The story of when Loki got his lips sewn shut'

'What!'

'Apparently Loki made a bet with some dwarves and the winner would get the loser's head. They won and so Loki fled. But he was caught and taken to him. Loki got out of it by pointing out that even though the dwarf had a claim on Loki's head he didn't on his neck. So the dwarf knew that Loki's head was his so he decided to stop his silver tongue so.. so they sewed his lips together'

'That's horrible!' said Steve; he turned to Thor 'you let that happen?'

'Yes' admitted Thor dropping his head. 'Though that is not what happened'

'What? He didn't get his lips sewn together?' asked Natasha.

'He did, it just did not happen that way. When Loki returned with Sif's new hair she was upset that it was black so I went to go see him. I lost my temper with him and started to hit him. He eventually admitted that he did it on purpose and that he purposefully made Sif's hair black. To punish him for his crimes he had his lips sewn shut'

'And he deserved what he got!' spat Sif.

'Can you shut up?' asked Natasha 'I have it up to here with your constant whining! He cut your hair off! Get over it!'

'You cannot speak to me like that!'

'I just did!'

'I will hit you in a minute!' she warned.

'You hit me and I will break every bone in your hand' Natasha hissed back causing Sif to flinch.

'Loki was punished because he admitted to his crimes' said the younger Thor.

'Don't you think he might have said what he said to get you to stop beating the living shit out of him?' suggested Clint.

'A _real_ warrior would never give in to torture!' said Sif.

'I am not a warrior!' shouted Loki.

'And you will never be! Magic is for maidens!' laughed Sif.

'It is not!'

'It is! That is why you loose in sparring! Even against me and I am a girl!'

'Or maybe I am being a gentleman and not wanting to hurt you but I do not see why I bother seen as if you criticise me for everything I do!'

'You a gentleman? That is a first! You are a weak, pathetic so called warrior!'

'Be quiet!'

'Why? Scared to hear the truth?'

'Lady Sif that is enough!' demanded the guard coming over to them.

'You have no place here Percival!'

'My orders are to protect the Prince. At this moment in time I can see he is very distressed and I advice you to remove yourself from his presence' snapped Percival.

'My pleasure' and with that she turned on her heels and headed in the other direction. 'Coming Thor?' she called over her shoulder.

'Yeah' he said. He gave Loki one last look then ran after her.

'What a bitch!' said Tony after they had disappeared.

'Brother, are you all right?' asked Thor walking to Loki.

'I am fine' he said waving Thor's hand away 'we are going to see father or what?'

'Of course' he smiled at him.

'Lead the way please Percival' said Loki.

'Yes, sire' he gave a bow then continued into the palace followed by the rest of them. They walked into the throne room to find it empty.

'Few he's not here! Lets leg it before he-' Tony was interrupted as a door at the other end of the room opened and Odin and Paradox entered the room. 'Wait a minute! You were there!' Tony spun around to where Paradox was but came face to face with Natasha.

'You should pay more attention Antony! I left to see the king when you were all babbling'

'And you didn't invite us!' Tony mocked turning back around to them.

'Paradox has informed me of the situation. I must thank you all for helping my son' said Odin walking up to the group. 'Thank-you Percival for protecting Loki, you are dismissed' Percival nodded then left the room closing the doors behind him.

'So who is being left behind now?' wondered Tony. Paradox smiled and took the pocket watch out of his pocket.

'You will just have to wait and see' he replied.

'It better not be me because I cannot stand that bit- that awful woman' said Tony who was receiving glares from Steve indicating _behave or else!_. Paradox laughed and pressed the button. A white light erupted the room and when they opened their eyes they were back where they started.

'Yes!' exclaimed Tony as he looked round the remainder the group.

* * *

**Here we go! Yes I know it is rather long! That is what happens to you when your internet goes down, tumblr is not working and you are ill! Hope you liked it and if you don't understand anything then please tell me. I am considering rewriting chapter 3 because I think because I rushed it, it is not as good as it can be! Again thanks for reading and please review! :D Oh and who watched Doctor Who? I'm glad Amy has gone but not Rory! Rory is awesome! And what about Brian! He's already lost one son, he can't loose another! (Sorry Harry Potter reference there) And to make it even better! Merlin's back people! Yeah! They better find out Merlin has magic or I am going to scream! See you next time! Charlotte out! :D **


	5. Chapter 5

'Yes!' exclaimed Tony jumping slightly as he looked round the remainder the group.

'What are you yessing about?' asked Clint folding his arms across his chest.

'Isn't it obvious?' said Natasha rolling her eyes and nudging Clint.

'Spandex boy isn't here! Yes! Oh he is so going to be pissed! For once Paradox you have done something right!' he said.

'It's Steve, Thor' said Natasha replying to Thor who had his mouth gaped open.

'What do we do now?' asked Clint.

'I wish-'

'To speak to Odin, yes we know!' Tony said interrupting Paradox who just gave a sigh. 'You can run off ahead if you want. It's not like there is anything better to do'

'I will join you shortly and remember Agent Barton-' he stopped then with a smile and a nod he was gone in a flash.

'What the heck was that about?' a confused Clint asked. Tony walked over to him and gently smacked him on the back.

'Well, I think you just drew the short straw' he mocked.

Clint rose his eyebrow 'Meaning?'

'$50 says Birdboy gets left behind'

'You think I'm next? Why? Because he gave me advice?' laughed Clint.

'That's the very reason. Why would he give you advice?'

'He is has a point' said Natasha.

'Oh shut up the both of you' Clint snapped. He turned to Thor, 'is there anything interesting to do while we wait because if I wait another 5 minutes with him-' he looked over to Tony '-I'm going to kill him'

'Threatened! I feel threatened!' mimicked Tony putting his hands up and taking a step back.

'I could show you the wonders of Asgard' suggested Thor.

'Well, its better then standing here listening to them two get at each other' said Natasha.

'I have a perfect place we can start!' said Thor smiling and he set off through the bushes. Natasha gestured for Tony to follow which he did but remembering to keep clear of Clint as he did.

'Thor, where are we going?' asked Tony flapping away a bug that started pestering him; he could have sworn he heard giggling from behind him.

'The training grounds. I spent most of my time there'

'Why?' asked Tony swatting the bug in Clint's direction?

'Because a warrior must train'

'That sounds-' he sighed '-boring'

'Behave Stark!' growled Natasha as Clint started to swat away the bug.

'You sound like Steve!'

'That is because I'm your replacement Steve until we sort out this mess' she said whacking the bug away.

'Thanks' mumbled Clint, feeling a tad awkward that he an assassin couldn't hit a bug correctly.

'Your joking right?' whined Tony turning his head to her.

'Not at all. Me and him made a deal and seen as if you actually listen to what _I_ say it seemed right that I get the job!' she tilted her head to him and smiled.

'That is sooo not far!'

'We are here!' announced Thor moving out into the open space overlooking the training grounds. They started to walk over and they could see a young woman and young man sparring together.

'Is that, Loki?' asked Clint.

'Indeed' said Thor 'and that is the Lady Sif'

'You mean that moody bitch we met before?' said Tony, he then looked to Natasha waiting for his telling off.

'I agree with you there' she replied.

'Ha!' Sif shouted as she pinned Loki to the ground.

'Yes well done, you have won now can I go?' Loki sighed.

'You are just upset because I beat you' said Sif smiling.

'Yes of course' he said sarcastically standing up and dusting himself down.

'Oh cheer up brother! You never come out to spar anymore!' said the younger version of Thor coming over to the two. A bulker man with ginger hair followed by a tall blonde man and a short pale man

'Well maybe I do not want to spar with you anymore!' snapped Loki.

'Well why not?'

'Why does it matter?'

'He is just scared that I will beat him again' smirked Sif.

'I do not frankly care if I win or lose against you Sif'

'Maybe Sif's right! Maybe you are scared' laughed the blonde.

'I am not scared!' he snapped 'now move out of my way Fandral!'

'And if I do not? Are you going to run away like you normally do?' he joked.

'Why would I do that?'

'Because you are what the mortals say, chicken!' he laughed followed by the rest of the Asgardians.

'I am not _chicken_' Loki hissed balling his fists.

'You are pathetic!' laughed Sif 'you cannot even best any of us! Even the new recruits! Ha! If that is not pathetic then I do not know what is!'

'You know if you paid more attention to being a warrior then your female studies I'm sure you'd nearly be able to beat us!' said Fandral.

'How dare you insult my magic!'

'He is right brother!' said the younger Thor 'magic is for females! Not for warriors!'

'If you were like Thor then someone would actually like you!' spat Sif. Loki's eyes flashed a blue colour for a second but then went back to their normal emerald green state.

'You underestimate-'

'What?' interrupted Sif 'your magic? I have seen what you can do and even I could do better than that!' That was the final straw for Loki; he turned to Sif and pushed her away causing her to fall over.

'Ow!' she said as she collided with the floor. The bulker man and pale man helped her back onto her feet 'thank-you Volstagg, Hogun'

'That was uncalled for!' said Fandral pushing Loki backwards.

'How dare you push me!' screamed Sif striding up to Loki and punching him in the face 'after everything you have put me through you decide to do that? The nerve!'

'Exactly!' said Fandral also hitting Loki making him stumble to the floor.

'Volstagg hold him up!' said Sif cracking her knuckles. The bulker man swept his ginger hair from his eyes and walked over to Loki and grabbed him by the shoulders, pinning his arms behind his back. 'Payback, freak!' Sif punched him in the face again and then in the stomach making him slouch over forward. Sif laughed again and brought her fist up, she was about to throw another punch when something grabbed onto her arm. 'Get off!' she shouted and spun her fist round to get rid of the stranger. She looked to who it was and a woman with fiery ginger hair was tightly gripping onto her hand.

'Leave him alone' she sternly said, not breaking eye contact from Sif.

'And what are you going to do?' snapped Sif.

'I'll break your hand in a minute if you don't shut the hell up!' Natasha hissed, gripping onto Sif's hand harder.

'Ow!' she yelped as pain shot through her arm.

'Get off her!' shouted Fandral throwing a punch to Natasha but was deflected when someone grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back.

'Thanks' nodded Natasha to Clint who had Fandral pinned back. Sif balled up her other fist and prepared herself to punch Natasha. Natasha seeing her next move put her foot behind Sif's causing her to topple backwards. Natasha then grabbed onto Sif's arm and pinned it behind her back then she pulled her back. 'Now whose the pathetic one?' whispered Natasha into Sif's ear.

'Let my brother go, Volstagg' said Thor striding up behind him. The Asgardian did as he was told and Loki fell to the ground on his knees.

'Brother?' said the younger Thor 'he's my brother!'

'And what a bang up job you're doing to protect him!' said Tony walking over to the group.

'I do protect him!' the other Thor shouted.

Tony tutted 'Didn't look like it to me!'

'What are you implying?'

'Enough!' shouted Thor.

'You do not silence me! I am Thor-'

'I know who you are' said Thor walking up to his younger self 'For I am you'

The other Thor took a step back '-What?'

'I am you from the future!'

'Great... There are two of you!' sighed Loki, he flinched as he stood up.

'I know right!' said Tony smiling. 'One of ems bad enough! Never mind two!' Loki smiled at Tony's words.

'I completely agree with you' he replied.

'Are you ok?' asked Thor turning to Loki.

'Why?' he asked.

'Because I am your brother and I am concerned for you'

'You have changed' said Loki.

'For the good I hope'

'I am fine, thank-you… Thor'

'Well that's all happy and dandy but we got stuff to do, people to see' said Tony.

'Antony is correct' said Paradox appearing next to him.

'How was my father?' asked Thor

'Fine, though I do believe we are on a tight schedule!' he took out his pocket watch and flipped open the lid.

Tony sighed 'Not again!' he rubbed his face 'this is starting to get boring now! Springing us back and forth! Just get on with it already and stop pissing us about!'

'Stark, for once, is right' said Clint 'whatever your planning, get on with it. You might have the whole time in the universe but we don't and I'm pretty sure he doesn't either' he gestured to Loki.

'Pardon?' asked Loki.

'Just ignore him. He's talking out of his arse, as usual!'

'Were you born this way or did you pick up the trait of being a huge dick whilst growing up?' questioned Clint.

'Dunno' he grinned.

'Are we ready?' asked Paradox adjusting the watch in his hand.

'Ready as we'll ever be I suppose' said Tony. He clapped his hands together 'go ahead magic man but I will kick your ass if you leave me here!' Paradox smiled and pressed the button. A white flash erupted throughout the grounds and after a few seconds it died down leaving a couple of very confused Asgardians.

'What just happened?' asked Hogun finally, looking at the two strangers.

'Great…' sighed one of them.

* * *

**Yeah sorry it's been so long but I've been busy! I've had work experience which was epic! I had to wear a stab vest all week! It was just awesome! I've also had to revise for my re-sits and I've got mocks coming up and I've had tons of coursework to do! I frigging hate school at the minute! Yeah I've just had no time to update and I know its short and it might be a bit rushed but I couldn't just leave you hanging! Or can I? Nah! I'm not that mean! Hope you liked it and I will update as soon as possible! ****And see if you can guess whose been left behind this time! 5 points to Gryffindor (or the house you're in) if you get it right! :D **

**Charlotte out! :D **


	6. Chapter 6

'Great…' sighed one of them.

'Well?' asked Hogun looking at the both of them.

'Firstly can you let me go?' whined Sif. The fiery red haired woman squeezed her arm then leant in close,

'If you try anything, I will break you' Sif nodded and she was pushed away from the woman causing her to topple over.

'Let him go Barton' the woman ordered and her partner did as he was told. The blonde haired man, Fandral, walked over to his friends and helped Sif back up onto her feet.

'Why did Paradox leave us here?' Clint asked stretching his arms.

'You know why' Natasha said, watching Fandral help Sif.

'No, what I mean is why _us?_ Why not Stark or Thor?'

'God knows' she said finally breaking eye contact and walking up to him.

'We know he's picking us off one by one but he's broken the pattern by leaving us both here' he said rubbing his chin in thought.

'Maybe he's pairing us off' said Natasha.

'But Banner and Rogers are on their own and Thor and Stark have gone'

'He's a time traveller! He could probably send them ba-. That son of a bitch!' Natasha said as realisation dawned on her.

'What?' asked Clint.

'He is pairing us off! He left Bruce in the 1st time we went to, then Steve in the 2nd then us in the 3rd'

'But what about Thor and Stark?' questioned Clint, they were both still ignoring the weird looks they were getting from the Asgardians.

'Paradox will probably pair them up with either Banner or the Captain' Clint smiled,

'It'd be funny if Stark ended up with Rogers' Natasha grinned.

'Yes, yes it would'

'But what I don't understand is why didn't he leave two of us behind at each time instead of one?'

'Maybe is was wanting us to see something, to understand something'

'Understand what exactly?'

'I don't know. But there has to be a reason' Clint nodded in agreement.

'Apologies for interrupting,' said Loki stepping toward them, 'but are you going to tell us what is going on or not?' Natasha and Clint looked to each other.

'This is going to be a long day' sighed Natasha.

* * *

Bruce was sat up in the infirmary when a beam of white light erupted the room. He shielded his eyes from the light and he heard a thump on the floor. As the light died down a moan gasped out. Bruce walked over in caution and saw a figure lying on the ground.

'For god's sake' the figure mumbled as he rolled onto his back and sat up.

'Tony?' Bruce asked walking over to him.

'Banner?' Tony asked turning his head to his fellow scientist.

'It's good to see you' Bruce smiled as he helped him up onto his feet.

'You too. You would not believe the day I am having!'

'Where did you guys get off to then?' asked Bruce.

'The future'

'And how was that? Fun?'

'You could say that, it wouldn't be the term I would use but you know'

'Do you have any clue what is going on?'

'Paradox' Tony said straightening his suit.

'Yes I gathered it was him'

'No I mean paradox! As in _a _paradox!'

'What?' a surprised Bruce asked.

'Well it's 3 paradoxes actually. Paradox is sending us to all the paradoxes. Funny eh?' he joked.

'We are in a paradox?' Tony nodded 'and I thought this couldn't get any weirder'

'Oh come on Bruce! It'll be fun!' Tony said putting his arm around Bruce's shoulder.

'Easy for you to say. You didn't try to smash the King's face against a wall' Tony grinned.

'You didn't did you? Oh classic'

'Classic? I'm glad I haven't had my head on a spike yet for what happened'

'Look, Paradox told him everything. How you can't control it and what not. I'm pretty sure he won't, after all you are protecting Loki and he now knows what will happen to anyone who tries to harm him. He should be grateful he's got the big guy!'

'But the thing is I can control it. Something happened to me back in that room, Tony. It was like something was bringing the other guy out and I couldn't stop it. It was like I didn't have a mind of my own'

'You think the Tesseract could do something like that?'

'I don't know but everything was just amplified. When you were arguing with Steve, that happens usually and it doesn't have any affect on me but today it was like it did. I was getting really angry at basically nothing and that it not normal, not after I've gained control anyway'

'Something seems a tad fishy if you ask me' said Tony.

'Oh?'

'There's something Paradox isn't telling us'

'You've just worked that out now?'

'Nah, I've been thinking it ever since the dude showed up'

'Me too. If we could piece everything together then maybe we might be able to figure it out' suggested Bruce.

'I like your thinking Brucie boy!'

'So tell me what happened in the 'future'' asked Bruce.

'Take a seat because I think we'll be here for a while' sighed Tony.

* * *

With a grunt Thor rolled onto his back. 'My distaste for time travel has greatly increased' he muttered to himself.

'Thor!' came a shout from the distance. Thor moved some of hair out of his eyes and sat up. He squinted as he watched a figure run towards him. 'Am I glad to see you' said the figure walking up to him.

'Captain Rogers?' asked Thor.

'Indeed' Steve said holding his hand out for Thor to take. Thor took his arm and pulled himself up. 'You haven't by any chance come across the others?'

'I was with them moments ago before Paradox brought me here'

'How are they? Are they ok?'

'Yes, I believe. As you can see they have not joined me here'

'Do you know where they are?'

'No I am afraid. Though I do think they are in a different time'

'Different time?' a surprised Steve asked.

'Yes. We travelled further into the future'

'And?'

'It has made me see sense of my brother's hatred for me'

'What? What happened?'

'I saw what cruelty I did to him, what my friends did to him and I did nothing to stop it'

'You shouldn't bully yourself up about it' said Steve patting Thor on the back. Thor took in a deep breath and picked up Mjolnir.

'We should seek conference with my father. I am confident Paradox told him more than he was letting on'

'Ok' They both headed off toward the palace 'so what happened in the future then? I hope Tony behaved!'

Thor gave out a laugh, 'With Lady Natasha as your replacement he was on his best behaviour' Steve grinned and they both entered through the palace doors.

* * *

**So thats 5 points to ****_harrylee94 _to whatever house you are in for getting it right! **

**Sorry the chapter is short but I've just done my resits for my exams and the next few weeks is mocks, mocks, mocks and mocks so that shall be fun! yey... **

**Anyway hoped you enjoyed it, please review and next chapter should be up as soon as I have time! **

**Today is Children in Need and my school did a non-uniform day which meant we could go in fancy dress. I went as Sherlock, what did you do for it? And if not what would you dress up as? **

**Byes! :D **


	7. Chapter 7

'You are here to protect him?' asked Sif crossing her arms and looking straight at the two assassins.

'We just said that didn't we?!' spat Natasha 'and it would make our a job a hell of a lot easier if you moved your sorry ass away from here'

'How-' Sif stopped as she received a glare from Hogun.

'We understand the predicament. We will not interrupt you of your duties any further. Thor I presume you are staying here?'

'Indeed' he replied. Hogun nodded back to him and gestured for the others to leave. The remaining four watched as the Asguardians left the training grounds.

'How long do you remain here protecting me?' asked Loki breaking the silence between them.

'Until either big ugly shows up to kill you or Paradox arrives to take us home' shrugged Clint.

'Sounds reassuring' muttered Loki.

'Yeah well don't get too comfortable, we don't plan to stick around long' he said crossing her arms.

'How so?' asked Thor.

'Lets just say me and your brother didn't get off to the best of starts'

'What happened?'

'Well you know he just made me his personal puppet by taking over my mind then making me kill my fellow colleagues. Then he attempted to take over the world'

'I-I did all that?' stuttered Loki.

'Yeah but that's not important at the minute' she nudged Clint 'what is important though is keeping you safe. They are our orders'

'And do you always follow orders?'

'Yes' she replied.

'Well I don't know about you but I'm starving!' said Clint rubbing where Natasha had elbowed him.

'I agree!' bellowed Thor. 'We shall dine!'

'Clint you had about 5 bacon sandwiches before we left! How can you still be hungry?' sighed Natasha.

Clint shrugged 'Dunno. Lead the way Thor!' Thor grinned back and left the grounds with others trailing behind him.

'I never realised how beautiful this place is' said Natasha looking up at the palace.

'Who are you and what have you done with Natasha?' joked Clint.

'What? It's nice! I didn't exactly realise before, we were too busy running around and what not'

'Hmmm it's nice, I admit' said Clint.

'Asgard is well known for its beauty' said Thor turning to them.

'I can see' replied Clint.

'This Tesseract, you mentioned earlier' said Loki behind them 'what colour was it?'

'Blue' Natasha turned to Loki 'why?'

'-Nothing. It is fine' Natasha stopped then walked up to him.

'What's wrong?' Loki brought his sleeve up to show blue veins on his arm. Natasha grabbed it and inspected it for a moment. 'We need to get you somewhere safe'

'What is happening to me?' he asked as the blue veins travelled up his neck and to his face.

'I don't know' sighed Natasha. Loki scoffed.

'Just what I needed' he shivered as he felt the veins crawl up his back. 'Whatever it is, it is powerful' said Loki looking over to them 'it feels like it is trying to reach my magic but-' Loki eyes rolled to the back of his head and his lifeless body collapsed toward Natasha who caught him in one swift motion.

'I don't like where this is going' said Natasha.

'We need to get him inside' said Clint helping Natasha with Loki.

'No shit Sherlock' she mumbled as she shrugged with the weight of the God of mischief in her arms.

'Thor, go get your dad and meet us in the infirmary' Thor nodded to the archer and ran off through the palace gates.

'How much do these guys weigh?' sighed Natasha as she lifted Loki to his feet. Clint grabbed hold of Loki and flung him over his shoulder.

'You remember the way?' asked Clint adjusting Loki on his shoulder. Natasha nodded and they ran through the palace gates. Thor or Odin had obviously told the guards of the new guests, as they didn't interrupt them as the two assassins ran through the halls of the palace. Natasha burst open the doors of the infirmary and helped Clint put Loki down on one of the beds. She looked down and examined his face. The blue veins had already reached his eyes and were now climbing across his forehead. Natasha reached to reveal Loki's eyes, already knowing the outcome. Tesseract blue lit up his eyes like a Christmas tree. _Shit_ she thought.

'The Tesseract' breathed Natasha letting his eyelid close.

'Now what do we do?' asked Clint looking up to Natasha.

'_Brucie boy get over here now! Shits brewing! And then imagine a whole load of shit added to the mix' _shouted a ghostly voice echoing throughout the room.

'Is that-' Clint paused '-Stark?'

'Sounds like it'

'Brucie boy?' Clint sighed in annoyance 'he's with Banner! Would have been way funnier if he was with Rogers..' he sulked.

'Well at least we now know whose with who' said Natasha.

'_Hey birdbrain! It would have not been funnier if he was with Rogers!' _Tony's shout filled the room causing the two to freeze.

'You- you can hear us?' asked Clint.

'_Of course we can hear you!'_ sighed Tony. Natasha could just imagine Tony rolling his eyes in annoyance.

'How?' she asked.

'_Natasha my love' Tony joked 'I didn't notice you there. How are things?'_

'As you said. Shits brewing. We got a problem with our Loki'

'_You found__-another- problem with him?' _

'Can it Stark. He's got blue veins all over him. His eyes like the first Loki are blue. Any ideas?'

'_Well we've been coming up with a few theories on the evidence we've been given' _said the tired voice of the Doctor.

'You okay Bruce?' asked Clint.

'_Yeah I'm fine Clint, thanks' _he replied.

'What you science nerds got for us then?' he asked.

'_Don't call us science nerds, Robin Hood!' _an annoyed Tony interrupted. Mumbling could be heard in the distance and the two assassins could only presume it was Bruce telling Tony off.

'_I think-'_

'_WE THINK!' _shouted Tony. Bruce sighed.

'_-We- think that this Thanos guy is using the Tesseract to get to Loki'_

'Yeah Bruce we know that' replied Natasha.

'_Let me finish! Remember what the Tesseract is? Its an unlimited energy source but its also a portal' _

'What are you saying?' Clint said.

'_I'm saying is that this Thanos is using the Tesseract through Loki. Making him open the doors with the power of the Tesseract'_

'Loki said earlier that he felt it reach for his magic' said Natasha.

'_Well that explains it' _said Tony eventually _'why couldn't Thanos just open up a portal? Because he can't! He's somehow managed to tap into the Tesseract and direct it to Loki. By using the power of the Tesseract and Loki's magic he can get the portal open!' _

'And he can get to Loki' sighed Natasha.

'But there are three Loki's! How do we know which one he comes out of?' wondered Clint rubbing his temples. This whole thing was giving him a major, major headache.

'_**Barton has a point' **_came another voice into the conversation.

'Rogers?' he replied.

'_Great..' _sighed Tony.

'_**Nice to hear your okay too, Stark'**_

'Guys we need to fill Rogers in on what we know' said Clint.

'_**It's fine. We've been here the whole time'**_

'_We?' _asked Tony.

'_**Hello my friends'**_ came Thor's boisterous voice.

'_You've been here the whole time and you didn't say anything?'_

'_**We thought you were in the moment so we didn't want to disturb you'**_ answered Steve.

'_Or you had nothing interesting to say'_ remarked Tony.

'Boys pack it in!' scolded Natasha 'Rogers how's your Loki doing?'

'_**Not good. He seems to be like yours. Blue veins all over him'**_

'What do we do then? We can't fight this Thanos guy off. We don't have our weapons' grumbled Clint. He was starting to miss his bow.

'_**Weapons or not we shall protect my brother'**_ declared Thor.

'_Yeah but we can't do that point break without our weapons!' _chimed in Tony '_because without them, we are as useful as a dogs arse!'_

'_**I do not understand-'**_

'Maybe I could help you?' suggested Paradox appearing next to Natasha and Clint.

'How can you help us?' growled Natasha, watching him like a hawk.

'Firstly I can give you your weapons'

_'You can? How?!' _exclaimed Tony, excited that he could get back his suit.

'With a click of my fingers' he claimed.

'Then do it' said Clint.

'Oh but there is a price!'

_**'What** **price?'** _asked Steve.

'I will think about it while you have your battle' he clicked his fingers then disappeared.

_'What an ass'_ muttered Tony.

'Seconded' admitted Clint.

_**'Hey guys, my suit and shield just appeared in front of me' **_said Steve, a hint of relief in his voice.

_'Oh my god! Yes! I love you!' _happily shouted Tony. Clint frowned at Natasha who just shook her head smiling. Not a moment later a white light appeared and in front of them were their S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms and weapons.

'Oh how I have missed you' whispered Clint, stroking the edge of his bow. Natasha grinned,

'Everyone got their weapons then?' she asked and was confirmed with their replies. Natasha and Clint quickly got changed into their outfits and gave a sigh of relieve when they felt like they had a chance in this after all. A groan escaped Loki causing the two assassins to turn and face him to find him walking over to the other side of the room.

'Loki what are you doing?' asked Clint stepping closer to the young man.

_'Loki gone all zombified on you? Well same here' _remarked Tony.

**'_Same here_ too'** piped up Steve. Clint stopped as he saw Loki bring out a knife.

'Where the hell did he get that from?' Clint then watched as Loki brought it up and stabbed it into himself.

_**'Brother NO!'** _cried out Thor. Natasha walked up next to Clint, her gun in hand.

'What is he doing?' she murmured as Loki dropped the knife on the floor.

'I have no clue' replied Clint, also getting his gun out. They watched in awe as Loki put his hand to his wound and pressed on hard. He then brought the bloody hand up and started painting symbols on the wall, muttering something under his breath.

_'He's gonna get hell of a cleaning bill'_ joked Tony.

**_'He's performing_ magic'** breathed Thor.

_'He stabs himself every time he uses magic?'_

_**'This is very, very dark magic. Even my brother would not go near it'**  
_

_**'**Shit' _Loki started shouting now. He raised his hands as a green and blue cloudy smoke wrapped itself round his palms. Then a bang erupted through the room. A blue portal started to open in the blood pattern on the wall.

'Here we go!' cautioned Clint, his gun at the ready. Natasha was beside him gun also pointing to the portal.

'Oh my god..' gawped Natasha as a big red hand emerged from the portal.

* * *

**Here it is! Not the last chapter of course! I'm sorry it took me a while to upload I've been busy with my exams! Got a French speaking on the 13th and I've only learnt a paragraph out of 6! So I'm so totally screwed for that... **

**Anyways hope you enjoyed it and I might make the next chapter the last. I don't know. Depends on how I make the next chapter ****turn out. **

**Thanks for reading! And please review! **

**SherlokiPotter out! **

**:D **


	8. Chapter 8

_The road so far: Right so a guy named Paradox zaps the Avengers into the past to protect Loki from Thanos because he's all bent on revenge and yeah. And so Bruce and Tony end up protecting kid Loki. Natasha and Clint end up with a teenage Loki and Thor and Steve end up with a young adult version of Loki. They realise Loki was innocent and that Thanos has somehow used the Tesseract to go back through his time line thats why they are there in the first place. But it seems they are too late as Loki becomes 'zombified' and opens the portal for Thanos to come through... They just don't know which one out three he is going to come out of.. _

* * *

'Oh my god..' gawped Natasha as a big red hand emerged from the portal.

'Master' said Loki kneeling to the ground, his head bowed as the giant came through.

'Asgard' Thanos said, the words dripping off his tongue like poison. He surveyed the room. How he had dreamed of this day. His eyes then lay on the two assassins, guns in hands. He chuckled, 'what is this? Food for my pets?' Clint took a slight step in front of Natasha,

'Us? We are your worst nightmare mate' replied Clint his gun still aimed at the Titan.

'You think a mere mortal and his pet female will defeat me?' he laughed. Natasha scowled and tightened her grip on her gun.

'Pet female?' she hissed and pulled the trigger, landing 4 shots in the giants chest. Thanos took a step back, shocked by the bravery of a mere female. He hesitated then burst out laughing. 'I don't see what's funny' she spat.

'You think you can harm me with mortal weapons?'

'Well, one of our 'mortal' weapons blew up a whole army of alien freaks so I wouldn't judge us yet' shrugged Clint, still trained on the beast in front of them.

'Oh yes the Chitauri. They aren't very happy at what you did and… neither am I'

'Do we care?'

'You should do' he smiled. He took another look round the room 'finish them off and I expect you to have succeeded this time, my pet' he waved his hand then scowled. It wasn't here. He gave the two assassins one last look then exited through the portal.

Clint frowned over to Natasha then turned to see Loki stand up, his eyes glowing a Tesseract blue.

'So that's what he meant' he shrugged and pointed his gun to him.

'Clint we need to think about this'

'Think about what? He comes near I'll put a bullet in him. Simple'

'Not simple! We are meant to be protecting the dick not killing him!' Natasha warned, giving a quick glance to the archer.

'Oh relax Tasha! He doesn't have the glow stick of destiny with him!'

'No but he has mag-' Loki put his arms out and sent Natasha and Clint flying into the wall. '-magic' groaned Natasha rolling onto her front.

'Oh yeah forgot about that…' he replied rubbing the back of his neck. Natasha sighed and reached for her gun, she jumped up onto her feet and aimed it at Loki.

'We need to find a way to take him down without killing him' she said.

Clint glanced over to Natasha as he got himself to his feet 'Can we-?'

'Yes. But it can't kill him!'

'Agreed!' Clint smiled, swinging his bow off his shoulder.

'And no eyes!'

'Damn…' he muttered under his breath as he loaded an arrow.

'Why did he leave?' Natasha questioned, her eyes still fixed on the young trickster 'I mean he said he was coming for him and now what, he doesn't want him? It doesn't make any sense"

"Yeah, I was thinking that… Maybe he's looking for something" suggested Clint, bringing his bow up.

'But that's what doesn't make any sense. I thought Paradox said he was after Loki. Well Loki was right in front of him and he completely ignored him'

'Tash I don't know okay, ask Stark or Banner they seem to be the brains around here. Or better yet, why don't you ask Thor? It is his stupid goddamn brother after a-'

'Thor?' Loki interrupted. He turned his attention turned the archer. 'Thor is not here. He cannot save you. He will not come. He will never come. Why do you keep believing he would? Because he's your brother? But he's not your brother. He never was. He was the perfect child. Cast you in the shadow the moment you arrived in Asgard' the words seemed to flow out of the trickster, those horrible, horrible words Thanos had told him over and over. He had wished and prayed and screamed for his brother to come but… he never did. He never came. He never saved him from the nightmare he was living in.

'That's what Thanos told you, wasn't it?' asked Natasha. She observed the boy. He didn't look at all like the mad man who had tried to subjugate her world. He was innocent and pure and well, he was a child. Well he wasn't a child, god knows, he was probably older than her right now.

'Tash, what are you doing?' Clint said, seeing Loki's reaction to the name.

The assassin motioned her hand at him to shut up. 'He told me that Thor would never come. He would never save me…' Loki said, but it came out as more as a whisper.

'From what Thor told us,' she took a step toward him 'He looked everywhere for you. He was in denial that you were dead... Thanos must have shielded you from him' Loki looked down, his expression confused. Natasha looked over to Clint and nodded her head.

'Th-Thor looked for me?' a confused Loki asked. He scrunched his face up in pain as Thanos was shouting orders in his head.

'Yeah. He was heart broken that you had decided to do what you did to Earth' she took another step toward him, watching as Clint walked behind him. Loki's head snapped up. One eye glowing blue whereas the other an emerald green.

'But I didn't-I didn't want to. He made me do it...' he sobbed. He ran a shaky hand through his hair then grabbed his head. 'I can't-I can't'

'I know' she gave a reassuring smile then made eye contact with the archer who gave her a nod. She watched as Clint picked up his gun then struck Loki across the back of the head with it.

'Think that will snap him out of it?' he asked, stepping over his body and making his way over to Natasha.

'Don't know' she answered shrugging. She bent down next to him and moved him onto his side. Her hand hovered over his eye lids then slowly opened them. She sighed and stood up. 'Well, well done Agent Barton. You've officially knocked a God unconscious' He grinned at her comment, sliding his gun back in its holder.

'Just in a days work. So, how is he?' Natasha raised an eyebrow and turned to him.

'I thought you didn't care' she asked, eyebrow still raised.

'Well, I-I don't' he inspected the arrow in his hand. 'But is he still zombified or what?'

'He's fine. Might be suffering from a concussion when he wakes up though but I suppose that will pass. You seemed to snap him right out of it' Clint grinned then placed the arrow back in its quiver and throwing his bow over his shoulder, his eyes trailing to the unconscious God.

'We just gonna leave him?' he asked.

'I'm not moving him' she replied, putting her own gun away and moving over to the now open portal. 'We need a way to communicate with the others again... The portal must have disrupted the communication between us all' Clint frowned and followed her, looking at the swirling pattern the portal made.

'If you're suggesting we follow Thanos then let me point out what a bad idea that is Tash' She sighed and turned her head to him.

'And how do you suggest we get into contact with the others? We need to work out tactics Clint and right now that is our best option' The archer let out a shy and shrugged.

'Fine' Natasha smirked slightly at her breaking him then took a look to Loki. She heard Clint moving on his feet and turned her attention back to the portal.

'Ready?' she asked him, watching as he fidgeted on his feet.

'Lets go' he replied. Natasha closed her eyes for a brief moment then took a step into the swirling portal. She gasped at the sight in front of her. 'Oh my god' breathed Clint who appeared on the other side of Natasha. They seemed to be on some sort of planet. Clint looked down to the floor, it was rock. He took a step forward and looked up to the sky. Sky? It wasn't a sky. It was space. 'We are stood on a rock...in space. How are we not dead?'

'I don't know' Natasha answered, slowly walking next to him. A large growl haunted their ears and they both instinctively went for their gun.

'Tash' whispered Clint, gently tugging on her arm. 'We need to go'

'Yeah' she was hardly paying any attention to him. Her eyes scanning the area.

'Tash'

'Clint, in a minute' she shrugged off his arm and started walking forward. She came across some steps and she followed them down, across onto another rock.

'Tasha!' hissed the archer, taking a step forward. He did not like this. He felt like something was watching them. That something was lurking in the darkness. And he knew. He knew that she felt it too.

She waved off his words and glared into the darkness in front of her. She took another step and metal clanged under neath her. 'дерьмо' she swore. She bent down and picked it up. She frowned. It was a chain. She followed it to a wall. She ran her hand across it and could make out the faintest colour of red plastering the wall and the chain. She took a step back and turned to her partner. 'Clint... We need to go'

The archer nodded and spun his head around trying to find another portal. 'There' he said as she pulled up next to him. 'Are _you_ ready?' he asked. She put her hand on his arm and gave him a nod and they both set off, quickly and stealthily running toward the portal. They didn't even bother hesitating as they both jumped in.

* * *

**Hi~**

**I'm sorry. I promised it would be out ages ago but I've been busy with exams (I know shit excuse) and plus I forgot my log in... Which I don't understand because it's so simple. _Anyways_, I actually wrote this a few months back, I just forgot to post it. But here you go. And I will be updating it. My exams finish on Tuesday then FREEDOM! **


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